Connie and Johnny Crosby attended the Camp and Retreat Ministries National Gathering in Palestine, TX January 29-February 3, 2017. We received a lot of good information and made a lot of good contacts but are glad to be back home.

Camp Wesley Pines has hired a new program director, Zach Crosby. Zach has a bachelor of science in recreation administration from USM. He has interned with Own your Hill Marketing where he learned aspects of marketing, photography, website content, and social medial content. He has been the facilitator of Bar-T Adventures where he lead participants through fun and productive times on the high ropes and zip line courses. Zach has been licensed and ordained to the gospel ministry and most recently served as Children’s Pastor at Journey Church in Laurel, MS. Zach also served as a summer intern at Wesley Pines in 2013. We are excited to have this gifted young man on our staff!

Free Day! April 29…save the day! Wesley Pines invites all to come and experience a taste of summer camping! You will have the opportunity to participate in archery, canoeing, high and low ropes events as well as touring the camp. Our Prayer Trail will be open for spiritual reflection and devotionals. Burt Fleming, world champion chainsaw wood carver, will also be here on that day. There will be a free lunch with dessert being ice cream made by Bro. Johnny’s 1940 John Deere hit-and-miss engine. Come and enjoy the day with us!

After 25 plus years of service, the walk-in cooler unit in the cabin-side kitchen could be patched no longer….it gave up its faithful service (I wonder how many tons of food it has kept cool…how many gallons of milk?). This cooler has been replaced with a NEW one, may it serve us well as we serve others through this kitchen!

The planting of all the 4th generation super lob lolly pines is now complete for this reforestation! Thank you Lord for the gentle rains that have come weekly since the completion of this project!

​Camp dates have all been set for summer…look on this web page for them! We are also adding three new groups this summer that have not camped with us before. One of these groups is the Mississippi Burn Camp. This is going to be a great and busy summer! Please keep us in your prayers!

Improvements/ already done or in near future 1. We have erected a large new cedar cross at the outdoor chapel area. A new lighted cedar cross is coming to the tabernacle soon! 2. New aluminum flag poles with solar lights coming soon! 3. Painting/staining Durr-Wise Lodge outside….and the porch area is nearing completion. Re-finishing and sealing all rock-in chairs on campus should be finish this week. Re-finishing and sealing 8 inside doors at Durr-Wise completed this week. We are preparing to build a storage building for Presbyterian Cursillo behind Durr-Wise lodge...we have cut the lumber using Bro. Johnny’s sawmill from downed trees at Wesley Pines… constructing the building this spring. 4. A new pavilion will be complete on the activity field before summer…the slab has been poured! 5. New designated parking area on the cabin side of camp…with about 300 feet of split rail fence should be in place by Free Day (end of April) 6. 20 new cedar topped benches (1/2 of these built as an eagle scout project) headed for the prayer trail! 7. New butterfly garden going in across the blacktop road from the tower. 8. New archery range and equipment (hopefully in place by summer) through a partnership with the Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks. 9. Cleaning out and repairing the pool this week.

Volunteers/helpers needed!! Spring Cleaning? Sprucing up? Some of these activities have begun already… 1. Help needed to change the color scheme on cabin side of camp...going from brown to driftwood blue...estimated needing 200 gallons of paint...every inch of decks and exterior walls of cabins 5-12 have already been pressure washed...now comes the paint! Need help taping windows...painting, etc 2. Carpentry skills needed: To refinish the hardwood floors in cabins and Smith Retreat Center. 3. Carpentry skills needed: To replace the vent fan area of each cabin with sky lights. 4. Construction of new wooden bunk beds. 32 sets are being built by churches. These will be placed in cabins after refinishing hardwoods floor

We are excited about all the activity…several churches have already committed to help….we can use all the volunteers….all skill levels….even for a few hours…that can come our way!